JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Stephen Harper rallied to the side of Israel Tuesday in the Middle East peace process — saying that while he privately raised with his counterpart Canada’s concerns about Israeli settlements in the region, he refuses to publicly single out the country for criticism.

The message came at a news conference after Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting to discuss a range of issues — from expanded bilateral trade to continued unrest in the region.

Along with Harper once again declaring his sympathy for how Israel is often treated unfairly, Netanyahu provided a lengthy dissertation to strike down “myths” that surround instability in the Middle East — with the Israeli leader insisting the settlements are not the core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Among the issues that followed Harper on his trip to Israel was whether he was being clear on Canada’s position regarding Israel’s construction of homes and apartments in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A written statement on Canada ‘s foreign affairs department website declared that the settlements are not legal — essentially because they are being built in “occupied territories” won by Israel in the 1967 war.

Harper and his cabinet ministers have been reluctant to publicly voice the same language when asked repeatedly about it — at recent news conferences in Ottawa, and when the prime minister went to the West Bank earlier this week.

On Tuesday, as Netanyahu stood by his side, Harper was asked twice — by journalists from Israel and Canada — whether he had raised the issue with his Israeli counterpart.

“The answer, of course, is yes,” said Harper. “Leaders on both sides know what Canada’s view is on this – which is, as I say, publicly available.”

But then, Harper said he wanted to “emphasize” one thing.

“I’m not here to single out Israel for criticism.”

Harper complained that when he appeared at a news conference the previous day — where Canadian journalists were limited to two questions — he was asked about the Israeli settlements but no one asked him to criticize the Palestinian Authority over issues of governance or human rights.

“When I’m in Israel I’m asked to single out Israel. When I’m in the Palestinian Authority I’m asked to single out Israel. And in half the other places around the world you ask me to single out Israel.”

Harper said he doesn’t do that because he comes from a country — Canada — of different languages, religions and cultures.

“And the one lesson I think we have learned is that when somebody is a minority – particularly a small minority in the world – one goes out of one’s way to embrace them. Not to single them out for criticism. “That’s a fundamental Canadian ethic. And that is why I think many Canadians understand the approach I am taking.

He said that doesn’t prevent him for expressing with Israeli or Palestinian leaders “the issues on which we disagree.”

But he stressed: “It is frankly more productive to discuss with them in private settings where quite frankly we’re able to exercise much more positive influence.”

For his part, Netanyahu launched into a lengthy answer to describe how he believes the Middle East is misinterpreted because of various “myths.”

For starters, he said people have long incorrectly believed the “core of the conflict” in the Middle East is the “Palestinian problem.”

Only now, he said, are many people recognizing that the larger dangers are coming from unrest in Arab countries such as Syria, Yemen and Libya.

“Look almost everywhere, from Gibralter to the Khyber Pass, and the whole place is imploding.”

Even within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said, the core problem does not rest with how Israelis have been building settlements. That has only happened in recent decades, and the problems existed long before then.

He said Canada has a “different position from Israel” on the settlement issue.

“I guarantee you that’s the case.

“But the settlement issue has to be resolved and will be resolved in the context of peace negotiations. But it is not the core of the conflict. We know that because this conflict raged for half a century before there was a single Israeli settlement.”

In recent months, the United States has been leading peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu said the issue at the heart of those talks is simple.

“To have genuine peace between us and the Palestinians, there must be a Palestinian acceptance finally of a nation state for the Jewish people. If the Palestinians expect me and my people to recognize a nation state for the Palestinian people, surely we can expect them to recognize a nation state for the Jewish people. After all, we’ve only been here four millennia.”

“The core of the conflict is not settlements. The core of the conflict are not the territories. The core of the conflict is not the absence of a Palestinian state.

The core of the conflict is the persistent refusal to reconcile to an independent nation state of the Jewish people. That’s what this conflict is about.”